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Police: Sharper told witnesses sex was non-consensual

Former NFL star Darren Sharper admitted to witnesses that he and another man had sex with two women in New Orleans without their permission last September, according to a report by a New Orleans police detective.

Former NFL star Darren Sharper admitted to witnesses that he and another man had sex with two women in New Orleans without their permission last September, according to a report by a New Orleans police detective obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Sharper, 38, has been in jail in Los Angeles since last week, when he surrendered to authorities after a warrant was issued in Louisiana for his arrest. New Orleans authorities issued the no-bail warrant after a police investigation found he and an acquaintance, Erik Nunez, 26, had sex with two women while the women were under the influence of an unknown substance, according to the detective's report.

The New Orleans police report says the two alleged victims were "impaired by the substance to the degree that both do not recall the entirety of the sexual intercourse."

Both alleged victims said they awoke from a stupor with Sharper "completely nude" on top of them, the report states. It said the women did not consent to sex with Sharper.

An acquaintance who had key access later arrived to find Sharper dressed in boxer shorts and Nunez exiting a bedroom, also in boxer shorts, the report states. The report does not specify whose apartment they were in, but does say Nunez was seen "exiting the bedroom known to him as Darren Sharper's bedroom."

"Through further investigation by the (detectives) it was learned that Nunez and Sharper admitted to other known witnesses that he and Sharper had... sex with victims #1 and #2 without their knowledge or permission," the report states.

Herbert Larson, an attorney for Nunez, said the evidence against his client is "virtually non-existent" and questioned the basis of the alleged admission.

"You have a third-party statement by a witness who is not identified and whose credibility can't be assessed, " Larson said. "That's the basis to hold my client in jail? You've got to be kidding."

A hearing will be held in Los Angeles on Friday on efforts to extradite Sharper to New Orleans to face aggravated rape charges. Police suspect him of raping nine women in five states since September: two in New Orleans, two in Arizona, two in Los Angeles, two in Las Vegas and one in Miami.

Sharper has been formally charged only in the Los Angeles case and has pleaded not guilty.

All the cases follow a similar pattern, according to police reports and court documents: The women say there were raped by Sharper after becoming intoxicated or drugged by him after a night of partying.

The other cases remain under investigation. Sharper's attorneys have disputed the allegations.

"All of these were consensual contact between Mr. Sharper and women who wanted to be in his company, who voluntarily ingested alcohol and drugs in many cases," attorney Leonard Levine told a Los Angeles judge last month.

Larson, the attorney for Nunez, also said that neither alleged victim accused his client of rape in the initial police report.

"The word rape did not occur," he said.

Sharper was arrested on the charges in Los Angeles in January and later posted $1 million in bail under the conditions that he not go to nightclubs and not be alone with any women he didn't know prior to Oct. 30, the date of the first alleged incident in Los Angeles.

The New Orleans warrant was issued last week and didn't allow for bail, forcing him to remain in jail until his status is determined by a judge.

Sharper played with the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.